Course Description - Covers the story of indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States: Aztlan, the Spanish colonial period, the Mexican period, and the acquisition and settlement by the United States. Seeks the exposition of indigenous and Hispanic historical and cultural foundations of the region and the confluence with other Asian and European influences. Taught in English with Spanish readings for Spanish majors. Taught online.
Reflective Narrative:
SPAN 308 helps contribute to the fulfillment of MLO 3 as it helps understand how the modern Spanish language was formed. This course gives a clearer perspective of just how Mexico and other Hispanic regions were changed by such a monumental culture. The main topic for most of the assignments covered the history of Mexicans as a whole, and what our perspective on certain parts of Mexican history were. Going over several chapters of our main textbook then at the end of a couple weeks we would write an essay talking about what we read, and what we thought about the events occurring in the book. But before writing an essay, we would go over several aspects relating to Aztec culture and be assigned smaller works that would let the Professor know where we stood in the class. Thanks to this course, I gained a closer relationship with my own culture. As a person of Mexican descent, this course helped me see that my culture was much more than just 'cool-looking' holidays and exotic cuisines. A certain area I wish to focus on after taking this course is the influence countries have over each other. We only briefly covered the topic of mixed blood throughout the spring semester as well as how Aztecs influence the current structure of our society. SPAN 301S, 305, and 306 also go alongside each other covering similar topics, specifically when most of the topics in those courses cover the Spanish language. In this case we take a closer look at one nation rather than skimming through multiple Hispanic countries. If I intend to go further with all that I experienced in Professor Andrade’s class, then I would have to start reading up on Aztec history and its influence on Mexican culture, considering how other nations took part in forming the current Americas through their interactions throughout the years.
Assignment:
Major Learning Outcome Fulfillment: